Boating, sailing, jet skiing and other water sports are very popular forms of recreation. Virtually all watercraft are constructed with at least one thru-hull, a device inserted through the hull of a watercraft and designed to drain or expel excess water out of the watercraft. Usually, thru-hulls are installed at a manufacturing stage of the watercraft, however it is often the case that thru-hulls are installed at a post-manufacturing stage either to replace a broken thru-hull, repair a leak, or to simply add a new drainage area to the watercraft. The interior end of the thru-hull is typically coupled to a hose that is connected to a bilge pump for pumping excess water out of the watercraft. The exterior end of the thru-hull, which is coupled to the exterior surface of the hull, is exposed to the elements.
Often, a need arises to replace a thru-hull due to the deterioration of this exposed exterior end of the thru-hull. While the rest of the thru-hull is shielded from the elements inside the watercraft and is otherwise in perfect working order, the exposed exterior end of the thru-hull is subject to cracking and other deterioration as a result of direct exposure to sunshine, wind, rain, water, salt water and physical contact with the dock. Depending upon their placement on the watercraft, obtaining access to existing thru-hulls in order to replace them can often be a difficult and time-consuming process.
A need therefore existed for a thru-hull cap capable of covering the exposed open end of a thru-hull in order to help prevent deterioration and destruction of the thru-hull, thus negating the need for thru-hull replacement.